The Meaning and Factors That Influence the Concept of Body Image: Systematic Review and Meta-Ethnography from the Perspectives of Adolescents

Our colleagues Eva M. Artigues, Mercè Pollina and Glòria Tort, nurses from Atenció Primària de l'Institut Català de la Salut in Lleida and Anoia, researchers from the IDIAP Jordi Gol i Gurina Research Foundation and professors from the UdL, have published the article ' The meaning and factors that influence the concept of Body Image. Meta-ethnographic systematic review from the perspective of adolescents' in the journal ‘International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health’.

The study starts from the basis that the Salut Comunitària nurses detected that the education that was done among the adolescent population about the acceptance of their own body image was not very effective. This fact could cause dissatisfaction among adolescents that, in turn, could develop in future unhealthy behaviors.

After evaluating studies carried out for more than a decade, and following the seven steps of Noblit i Hare's meta-ethnography, the study has been synthesized in six aspects: one's own perception of body image; the opinions of friends; the opinions of the family; certain aspects of the school environment; the expectations created by the media; and the strategies, practices and care of one's own body image.

From here, the three researchers have been able to develop an explanatory model for the development of body image, which will allow the implementation of new strategies to promote a healthy body image among the adolescent population.